Unitary Development Plan - What is a UDP?

Dudley is a Unitary Authority. This means that it provides all Council services unlike some County and District Council's where the provision of services is split.

 

The Unitary Development Plan (UDP) sets out the future of how land is used within our borough over the next 10 years. The UDP therefore simply means that it is the land use development plan for Dudley Borough.

 

Dudley's first UDP was adopted in 1993 and we are currently in the process of reviewing it's policies.

 

During June 2000 the Council published a 'First Deposit' UDP for public consultation. After considering the representations and objections received to that plan we then produced a 'Revised Deposit' Plan on which you were invited to make comments on the changes made since the First Deposit Plan. Consultation ran between February 22nd and April 12th, 2002.

On the 11th October, 2002 we published our Pre-Inquiry Changes booklet which contains changes made to the Revised Deposit Plan as a result of objections received. We also produced a second set of Pre-Inquiry Changes on the 29th November, 2002.

 

An independent inspector was appointed to hold an inquiry to consider objections and representations into the Dudley UDP. The inquiry opened in December 2002 and closed in June 2003. The Council received the Inspector's Report into the inquiry in January 2004 and published the Proposed Modifications in October 2004 for consultation. Plan adoption is anticipated for mid 2005.

 

The way the planning system operates is changing. The Council have embarked on the new Local Development Framework and will be publishing the Local Development Scheme shortly.

 

Further information and publications on the planning process is available via the Communites and Local Government website.